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Because you are So Uppity!

Ah, but yesterday was what would have been Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday– and I blew it. One must never let birthday recognition for this woman who brought so much laughter go by without notice. No offense Nancy, but she was bigger than Ronnie and I found his 100th brouhaha a bit annoying and a continuously overdone bore for at least a whole freaking month!

1. After two decades of trying to become a movie superstar, Lucille Ball was 40 years old before she finally became a Hollywood player with the debut of ‘I Love Lucy’ in 1951.

2. Lucy was not only a genius performer, but a smart, innovative businesswoman: she and husband/co-star Desi Arnaz introduced the idea of syndicating TV shows, and she was the first woman to own her own film studio (Desilu).

3. Among the other TV series produced by Desilu: ‘Star Trek,’ ‘The Untouchables’ and ‘Mission: Impossible.’

4. She attended acting school in New York City … with Bette Davis.

5. Like most other actresses in Hollywood, Lucy auditioned for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in ‘Gone With the Wind.’ But on her way to audition for producer David O. Selznick, she got caught in a rainstorm, was drenched, and had to audition wearing nothing but a long sweater she’d borrowed from Selznick’s assistant.

6. Lucy was not only the Chesterfield cigarette girl, but also a Ziegfield Girl and Goldwyn Girl.

You can you find Lucy starring in this segement of “Zeigfield Follies: An Embarrassment of Riches” segment.

Here’s Lucy in Stage Door: (With a look at the very fabulous Katharine Hepburn!)

Lucy discusses the grape stomping episode, which was based on her real life experience!

No filthy sex jokes. No fart jokes. No swearing. No degrading insults to women or minorities or pretty much anyone else. No special effects. Yet, Lucy and Ethel were funnier than 95% of the “Funny” people today. Now why is that?…And after all these years, she is still in syndication. How appropriate for the woman who invented the entire concept of syndication….

Soooooooooooooooooo….what’s YOUR favorite Lucy clip???? Post them here, friends. America doesn’t need another John Boehner, or another Barack Obama. But America sure could use another Lucy again, considering the sad state of affairs our politicians have left us in.

Vitameatavegemin – has to be one (among many) best clips ever. I grew up watching Lucy – there is no one, male or female, who can out act her and there is no sitcom that comes close to her show. I loved Lucy – still do.

How about A SCATHING SYNOPSIS OF WHO AND WHAT HE IS/ISN’T from Forbes?

The only thing missing? More darts at the roles of Congress, Republicans and their bedfellow Big Corporations in their for profit, globalization of America’s Economy, ALL at the expense of AMERICAN JOBS.

Who wants a Mimosa?

A Failed Presidency — The American Problem

Barack Obama is constantly “explaining” why things aren’t working, when he should be working on what to do different and better.

Instead he is “campaigning,” which is the only thing he knows how to do reasonable well. But he can’t fix the economy; he has neither the experience nor the knowhow to do it. His failed, misguided policies have only exacerbated the size of his mistakes and shortcomings.

Obama has surrounded himself with academics, theoreticians and politicians and all of their solutions are wrong, flawed and ineffective. Don’t take my word for it. Look at the evidence. Nobody in his inner circle has meaningful business experience. He not only doesn’t understand business, he dislikes businesses; they are only useful as a way to collect taxes to redistribute.

why not, there is so much wrong with that forbes article from my POV that I won’t go in to it. My fingers would get tired.
However it is nice to see Obama’s incompetence outlined by all sides. It does make me wonder though who big corporations and the media they own will foist on us in 2012.

theresa, judging by the still bland R playing field, looks like BigCorp & Media still prefer BigZero.

I’ll give the Right this: they are masters at naming and framing game. They could marginalize milk and cookies if they wanted to. I’m still reeling that SS, breathable air, drinkable water, and navigable roads are entitlements.

In the end, I want a statesman; someone who who’s looking at what kind of country we want to be. So far, I only have one name.

NYMike, I love that clip of Lucy announcing her pregnancy. When I was a little kid in the early sixties I watched the series and thought it was the first time the shows were on. When I realized as a teen that I did not watch the pregnancy and birth of Little Ricky in real time, I was sort of sad.

My mom dyed her hair strawberry blonde for decades and teased it and put rollers in it and was always pinning up things with bobby pins. She might have been the funniest lady on earth but she was also a glam queen.

back to politics. Teddy and Kerry got their payback for playing nice with The One and for shoving Hillary under the bus. Too bad Kennedy croaked before he could get his graft payments for another yacht or two.

I just read this and am not shocked or even angry – but should be. I have become jaded. I read this stuff and shake my head and turn the proverbial page:

Sophia, I could not agree more on the values and programs that should be sacrosanct for all democrats. I too see only one stateswoman who can put us back together as a nation. I do fear that Obama has so destroyed the democratic brand that a republican president is almost a certainty for 2012.

Desi had the worst voice on earth. Barring none. But he was an outstanding businessman and he knew how to market Lucy’s talent to it’s limits, of which there didn’t seem to be any. If he hadn’t been such a hopeless drunk and disgusting womanizer, she probably would have stayed married to him forever.

I’ll pray for Rick Perry…….done.
My guess, rick perry doesn’t listen to the “still small voice” of God very often if at all. So prayers might be futile since I prayed that he would gain the wisdom to stop interfering in people’s personal private life.

Holden was another waste of talent. They found him dead, he had been dead for 4 days, another hopeless drunk. Alcohol level at autopsy- .22. He tripped on a throw rug and hit his head on a night stand. He was too drunk to recognize he was losing a ton of blood so he died. What a waste. His liver at autopsy was in freakazoid state. Since he was a miserable grump and was given to disappearing for days, he was dead for a long time before anybody even noticed.

I’m sneaking back in for a blitz and split attack. Re Lucy and Desi’s marriage breakdown, I remember that the newspapers had front page coverage – a first in my young life back then. Normally gossip did not make headlines – in those days anyway.

LOL = Can’t wait to watch all of these. Was working from 8-12 on location today, and I promised myself when this job was done, installed and GONE that I would clean my house. I mean, CLEAN…windows, floors, area rugs and all. So, I am keeping my promise to me! 3 rooms down, 2 room, the kitchen and 2 bathrooms to go! Then I have to cook, but I’ll BBL for giggles.

Years ago I had two GIANT 1/2 Sheepdog, 1/2 Golden littermates. At 10 weeks old they looked like something from FAO Schwarz. Named em Lucy & Ethel.

Good luck FF – I swifter every single day, but the dog and cats continue – despite my pitiful proclamations – to shed all over the place. Not only that, but the dog chewed the heck out of two vacuum cords – evil Milly. Then, I had an infestation of clothes moths – which I’m still fighting. So fight on sister, you have a friend.

NYSmike – she married Gary Morton after her divorce, yet she always spoke about her love for Desi. I can relate – I divorced the love of my life in ’83 – lives change, times change and it was the right thing to do, however I have never been able to love another man like I loved him. so I can understand.

Vivien2u I love the 70’s show – another iconic series (as is the Big Bang Theory) Not too often do wonderful acting, writing and producting combine – like they did with I love Lucy, and onwards to the 70s show.

imust – It’s always difficult to change a relationship – to redefine it if you will. I loved my Gord to death – I just could not live with him. Today he’s married to a wonderful woman – Margaret and they are very happy and I’m thankful for that. I envy Margaret for sure, however I want the best for Gord.
I don’t know how difficult it was for Lucy – however she always maintained that Desi was the love of her life. Perhaps she had the same problem I did – love em, can’t live with em.

Could we can the life stories please. We all have our own deeply personal and depressing stories. If we all told them we would drive each other off this forum. Honesly, if I want to be depressed, I can do that all by myself! The Here and Now is tough enough! All this sharing what I would see as personal and private information in front of a couple of thousand people just makes me uncomfortable. It might just be me, but I just can’t do it and want to run in the other room when somebody else does it. Must be a flaw in my personality, what can I say.

Lucy’s two kids are real talentless shitheads too. They still can’t stop bashing her, especially that “sweet” daughter in that video. Note she was reading her script too. What, you can’t say something loving about your parents without a script?

I never thought much of her kids. I do remember them going along for the free ride. There was a story in my paper today calling the kids that are graduating now, the boomerang generation. Most of them are going back home after college because they can’t find jobs. The babyboomers are at fault for not retiring soon enough. It was a funny read. Here, I’ll share.

I think there’s a book on the boomerang generation, Vivien. Also the Nincompoop generation below them. lol.

They crack me up, these pissants. They have spent their parents dry, sucking down their savings and retirement money for their bright shiny objects and dumb decisions (they like being “independent” and tell their parents to eat shit when they warn them they are making a mistake. Then when everything goes south, they expect their parents to bail them out). They reach age 30 and still leech off their parents. even if they are married.

For starters, they have made it so their parents can’t retire, probably ever. They spent their money and now they want to take their social security away from them. And then they bitch that they aren’t retiring and giving their great jobs to these little losers who are sitting around waiting for some CEO to make them lord of the company with their dumbed down college degrees that are equivalent to a high school education in Japan.

I heard some news this morning about a THIRTY YEAR OLD KID who destroyed his father’s van. I call him a kid because he is a mental 14 year old. His reason? Because my father cares more about his van than he does about me. No kidding. You can’t make this shit up. THIRTY YEARS OLD. This CHILD actually thinks his father should dedicate his life to HIM. What an infant!

You are right Vivien. But to be honest, most of the parents of these 25 year old infants can’t get rid of them! They are like bad pennies! They leave for grand ideas and return with bills. Then they crash on the couch like everybody owes them something. I do know a few who really are trying to get going but for the most part, it’s leech city. Their expectations are way too high and they refuse to work unless it’s a job they want, which doesn’t exist. They don’t understand the concept of you do what you have to do because they have their sucker parents to fall back on. It’s just amazing what I see. There ARE some real go getters who will do what they have to do, but for the most part, nope.

When I graduated from college, jobs were hard to find then too. Especially teaching jobs. So I went to work in a department store stock room. My parents insisted I DO something. I had to sit there putting tags on clothing and listening to a bunch of yahoos talking about the last episode of hee haw for chrissakes. I didn’t even know who these characters were! Then I got laid off after Christmas besides. But my parents wouldn’t let me lie around. They could have more than afforded to “Keep” me but they knew it wouldn’t build character. It took me two years to get a decent job and I didn’t have a dumbed down degree either. You either sit around and act like a kept child or you get going. the assumption that parents owe it all to them is just odious. Many of them, when they do get work, have problems at work too, because they expect a trophy for showing up or something. The Real World is going to be a huge shocker for them.

City Hall. $20. I had a sister and a brother get married that way. They’re still married. My folks told us that if we wanted anything we would have to work for it, because they were broke. I’m real good at getting by cheap. I call it the simple life.

UW: Your parents sound like mine. So what if there’s no work in “your field.” You work where there’s work until something comes up in your field. No life experience is wasted–it all makes you who you are. There was no freeloading in our house (there were exceptions for the only male child who was also the youngest). FYI: The girls moved out at 18 and have been independent since.

Viv the thing is people have to realized things have changed. Looking to do things at the cheapest cost must be the normal or don’t do it at all, and as UW says, stop living off of your parent’s retirement and get your own life. (Not you! lol)

Sophie, I was the only girl and the youngest. The day I graduated college, which they paid for, I was expected to work and pay board till I got out of the house. It was as simple as that. Of course, my parents saved all the rent I gave them, along with every other monies they extracted from me for my birthdays and graduations for my savings account. I had to work summers too and Mom took some of my pay for savings too. I had no idea they saved my rent too, so when I left, they presented me with a very impressive bankbook, which also embedded in me the value of saving money.

On a lighter note, does anybody know how to get rid of a freaking cricket? It’s driving us crazy. I THINK it’s under the fridge.

lol NYS, in my home, it didn’t matter what sex you were. If you were old enough to work, you went and did it and learned a work ethic. Hardest jobs I had were working in my parents’ business too! lol. It wasn’t about money so much as learning to make it in the world on your own.

So funny, UW, that’s how my parents did it as well! Every dime they collected from us, they gifted back. The thing was, they did teach us how to pay our own way, to meet our obligations, and to honor our promises. I resented them then and thank them now.

Eh, Mr. Uppity is moving the fridge out to find the cricket. We are not going to listen to a night of this. He’s afraid I’ll kill it so he’s taking the job. He hates killing things unlike me, who will shoot a snake at 50 paces. Could be why he behaves. He knows I will kill him in his sleep if he doesn’t.

“They’re hiring at McDonalds”. I was thumbed down for making that remark on a chat board recently. Big time. I just didn’t understand each and every person’s very special reasons for not being able to find employment that suited them. Forget the suggestion I made that maybe 2 jobs was what would put food on the table and pay rent. And these were people MY age!! No wonder this younger generation has anchors attached to their butts. Jeebus. Pump gas or bag groceries. Something.

First time I saw a possum, I thought it was a huge rat. Ask Utah. We were on a forum and I had to describe the thing and she started laughing. I had no idea what a possum looked like. Damned thing had red eyes is all I knew. And a long tail. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

I remember when I was a young girl and we had a cricket in the house and my father got up in the middle of the night yelling at it and we all got up and were laughing our asses off. He was like, Shut Up you Son of a Bitch! Then we all ate pie.

Use a serrated knife to cut the tomatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cover a wire rack with several layers of paper towels and set the rack over the sink to catch the drips. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on the rack. Sprinkle them with the salt and let drain for at least 10 minutes. Pat the tomatoes dry with fresh paper towels.

Arrange half of the tomatoes over the bottom of the pie shell. Scatter the basil and bacon, if using, over the first layer of tomatoes, and arrange the rest of the tomatoes on top.

Stir together the celery salt, mayonnaise, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir in 3/4 cup of the cheese, and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mayonnaise mixture over the tomatoes.

Toss together the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and the cracker crumbs in a small bowl; sprinkle over the top of the pie.

Bake until the top of the pie is nicely browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.

Viv you have to put recipes in the Recipe tab or the recipe is lost just as soon as the page goes by, never to be found again. If you put it in the recipe tab, it stays there forever and can be found because that’s where all our recipes are.

Ah I shoulda known PA has tomato pie too. The place is riddled with dagos. I think it was invented in Buffalo. So were hot wings of course. Buffalo has some great food if you can stand being snowed in for weeks at a time.

lol. yes, that’s what it looks like to me, imust. I was thinking “we call those square things with dough and tomato – pizza” where I’m from.

Bakeries in NYC used to make them when I was young. We called the round pies Napolitano and the square ones Sicilian. They were a nickle for a small square. The bigger thicker kind, the deep dish, were a dime.

It has asiago, same difference. Margareta pizza or ones with tons of meats, chicken, veggies, etc. do not always have mozzerella, but they’re still called pizza.

I went to Italy to visit family when I was 15 and got to travel to several areas. They had pizza that was tiny, personal size and it was good but very different from what I was used to as a teen in NYC.

I refuse to capitulate on the deifinition of tomato pie. There will be no imposters! There will be punishments!

I will open the tab viv. I close them because the auto bots always hit them and I have all that spam to contend with. But for you, I shall open it. However you must change the name of the recipe or there will be punishments!

I was thinking UW’s tomato pie sounded a lot like pizza too! I didn’t know that mozz was the defining ingredient for pizza.

imust: pizza was invented in Italy. Naples to be exact. They made the first Pizza Magherita: tomatoes, basil and mozz.Pizza in Italy is way different than pizza here. I think Italian Americans perfected a good idea. Further, I think there is nothing comparable to Bronx pizza in the whole world. (Guess where I’m from originally!)

It has asiago, same difference. Margareta pizza or ones with tons of meats, chicken, veggies, etc. do not always have mozzerella, but they’re still called pizza.

Calling these travesties “Pizza” is recent. An attempt to rewrite history, perpetrated by academic pissants who want to pretend that pizza is not healthy but making pretend pizza IS healthy. There was a time in real history when there were only two types of pizza. With sauce or Garlic Pizza. As with the butchering of the English language, these impostors have sullied the word “Pizza”.

I made pasta for BREAKFAST this morning. With lots of sauce. And sausage. And parmesano cheese on top. If I am not Italian to you then I put my fingers under my chin and wave them at you in a swift motion.

Uppity, thanks for the beautiful tribute to Lucy! Whenever I see her I smile. I don’t think I have a fav, there are so many hilarious ones. I loved the Hollywood ones, John Wayne and William Holden, when she had Little Ricky. Also loved the ones with Cousin Ernie (Tennessee Ernie Ford? I think his name was).

God, I had forgotten about Stage Door also, what a lot of stars that movie had.

socal, nobody who makes good meatballs has a measured recipe because spice and texture are a work in progress. But there are some secrets. The first secret to good meatballs is veal. All beef meatballs are just not anywhere near as good. But you must have beef. It’s just that it’s supposed to be mixed with veal or veal and pork. My grandmother used only beef and veal, but they are also good with beef, veal and pork. You can also do them with beef and turkey, but never ever substitute anything in place of the beef. The next secret is Romano cheese. Parmesan is just too weak .I never have parmesan in my house. It’s always Romano. Secret number three is fresh bread crumbs or your own bread you deliberately harden. Stale bread crumbs that have been hanging out for a year make for unremarkable meatballs. Use the center of deliberately “freshly” stale bread, soaked in water or milk, squeezed out but not overly dry. Or ground the stale bread to crumbs –and you will need to add some water to the mix, because it should be wet and just firm enough to form into meatballs. Soft meatballs are what you want here. If the mix is too dry, you have hard meatballs in the end. Bleck. Think the way you think about meatloaf. Dry mix is dry meatloaf. So the color of the mix tells the tale. You need pinkness not red and you need moist not dry. And the garlic should be fresh and food processed. Some people don’t appreciate biting into a piece of garlic. Lots of people use garlic powder and that’s okay so long as it’s really flavorful garlic powder. Not all garlic powders are equal! And of course, you need parsley. And an egg for binding. You can use egg beaters substitute and it works fine. The egg is not for flavor, but to bind. I have known people who use no egg at all.

But to give you exact measurements is almost impossible. I just throw the stuff in, add salt, mix and pay attention to the color and texture of the mix. If you are frying them before adding them to the sauce, do not fry them too crisp, just enough to get a little color, you cook them the rest of the time in the sauce, and after frying, you should drain them or put them on paper towels before adding them to the sauce. Some people bake their meatballs. Who has the time? Remember, the goal is tender and meatballs are supposed to soak in that sauce for some time. All good meatballs need to sit in that sauce! The longer, the better. If you just toss them into the sauce from the frying pan and then serve it in a short time, they won’t be as good because the sauce hasn’t permeated them, which is a big part of good meatball flavor. I know plenty of people who do not fry them at all and just drop them gently into a long-simmering sauce, the old way. Do not stir them and be gentle when you are poking around in that pot! If the meatballs are hard enough not to be a bit sensitive to being slapped around, then they are too hard! The longer meatballs sit in simmering sauce, the more delectable they become. If you aren’t sure of your spices and cheese, then take a teaspoon of the mix and cook it for taste. Then add more of whatever you think it needs more of. Flat tasking mix means flat tasting meatballs. In the old days, they just tasted the raw mix, but that was before Big Agra and toxic meat.

I didn’t learn to put onions in meatball mix, Delphyne Or red pepper. So I would leave those out. But yes, this recipe understands “moist”. Water added. This is a mistake people make. Their mix is not moist enough at all.

I use both Parmigiano and Romano. I adore a good parm. The taste is so good sprinkled on lasagna or any hot pasta. Romano is great too. I do the 4 cheese lasagna with a mixed meat sauce and for my daughter I also occasionally make a veggie lasagna with no meat or with just cut up meatballs. She doesn’t like sausage and isn’t a big fan of caccitore.

If I use onion in meatballs I saute them till they are mushy but not brown. I also dice them to bits. Yeah, onion powder works too. I use thyme and basil. Oregano and bayleaf. Salt and fresh ground pepper. Parsley and Garlic. Romano and Parm. Veal, Pork, Beef. Flavored or unflavored bread crumbs. And yep, they gotta be so soft that they need delicate handling in the sauce. I use a spatula to stir. I go down the side of the pot gently and just pry stuff off the bottom so nothing sticks.